Issue # 211, May 2026

As we roll into May, we want to start with something simple but important: thank you. The donations and support we’ve received over the past weeks have been nothing short of life‑saving. Every contribution — big or small — has helped keep SBG alive during what has been the most difficult period in our history. We’re still here because of you, and we don’t take that lightly.

Behind the scenes, we continue to work relentlessly on SBG 2.0. It’s a massive undertaking, and while we’re not quite ready to unveil the full picture, the foundations are being laid brick by brick. Your support is what makes that possible. Without it, the lights would have gone out already.

Our situation is still extremely fragile. We’re fighting day by day, and if you’re in a position to continue supporting us, it genuinely makes a difference. Every bit of help buys us more time to finish what we’ve started — and to make sure SBG is still here to serve the community for years to come.

Ko-fi Kofi SBG26

Which brings us to…

Sneak Peeks of SBG 2.0

So far, SBG 2.0 has quietly been worked on for several hundred hours to date, with a massive amount of work already done behind the scenes.

It has:

- Archived and reformatted every issue of the Digest it could recover, going all the way back to the beginning

- Saved and rebuilt the entire library of SBG reviews, giving them a fresh, modern layout

- Preserved over 100 additional reviews and articles from the forum, many of which would have been lost to time with more being added all the time

- Started reorganizing all content into clean, easy‑to‑navigate categories

- Begun applying new formatting, new structure, and a new visual identity

This month we’re sharing just one early page — a rough preview of the new Chinese Swords section — simply to give you a taste of the direction things are heading. It’s still early, but the foundations are being laid.

We still can’t give a firm timeline. The economic conditions hitting the sword industry right now are the worst we’ve ever seen (not unexpected, we saw this coming for a very, very long time - but brutal all the same) — and they continue to slow everything down. But despite that, we’re pushing forward as hard as we can. Your support is what makes this possible, and we’re doing our absolute best to bring SBG 2.0 to life..

Special Offer for May

– $200 Off Every Bugei Katana

Thanks to a special distributor‑level promotion, we can pass along $200 off EVERY version of Bugei’s elite‑level katana. These are top‑tier production swords, and this is the best deal we’ve ever been able to offer on them (it's the best deal on these ever - period!).

If elite‑grade katana and heavy discounts are your thing, this is absolutely a win‑win: you get an incredible sword at an amazing price, and we earn a modest but meaningful margin that helps keep SBG alive.

Eligible Swords:

COUPON CODE:

BUGEI200

Enter the coupon code or click to apply $200 off any model, any size — all May - exclusive for subscribers of the digest.

We’re fighting hard every single day to push SBG 2.0 forward, and we’re genuinely excited to share much more with you next month as the next stage takes shape. It’s slow going in an industry that’s been hit harder than we’ve ever seen, but we’re still here, still swinging, and still doing everything we can to build something better on the other side.

Keep up the hard fight out there — we know it isn’t easy for anyone right now. But together, we’ll get through it, and we can’t wait to show you what’s coming next.

Until then, Happy Swordening all.